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Imperial Arkia
Location The ancient Terminus supercluster known as the Royal Cascade is a densely populated region of opposites. It possesses hundreds of habitable planets with harsh and uncompromising environments. Located rimward, it is comparatively isolated but remains a local nexus for trade, courtesy of secondary crossroads that serve to link many of the neighboring regions with the greater galaxy. The region is rich in mineral wealth and appears stable and developed, but under the exterior inter-factional tensions are strung high. The region has been fought over often, in both the distant and close past, but has been now unified under the dominion of Eld Ysr, the Sunlit Lord. Government Imperial Arkia is a feudal superstate ruled by a hereditary monarch and subordinate nobility. Outwardly, it appears a monolithic empire, but the state is riven with cultural, political, and ethnic cracks. The differences manifest in the tangled, often competing knots of alliances, allegiances, and bonds of obligation that spill out from the core worlds of Tributary Kraenon, the seat of power, and into the systems of the greater Royal Cascade. Each of the four main centers of power: Undrosc, Cyprathain, Izkilnas, and Salkah, are surrounded by satellite states and dependent polities like mining colonies, privateer fleets and loosely independent space stations. Other lesser territories, counties and minor fiefdoms exist between the four giants. All these are engaged in cut-throat competition for influence and prestige. Feuding and political maneuvering are commonplace and a fact of courtly life at nearly every level. The fierce internal conflicts themselves are a major contributor to the slowing rate of growth and increasing paranoia that pervades the cluster as neighbors prioritize their rivals over the possibility of external threats. While Arkia is young in terms of Terminus supranational organizations, it is a proof of power and potency of sheer force of arms. For that reason it is afforded a generous portion of respect among its fellows. Current Rulers and Leaders Emperor Eld Ysr Krogan patriarch of the reigning Clan Eld, Breaker of the Ashen Legions, Our Father, Our Watcher, Our Guardian who sits upon the throne at Etain his brow crowned with the sun’s rays. A much praised ruler, who does not care much anymore for the prestige afforded to him. The emperor is no longer involved with day-to-day administration of his empire, and prefers to occupy himself with his glorious personal history. Eld Ysrilok, daughter of the emperor has begun to pull away from the kingdom as a whole, unhappy with the gilded cage of her station. Eld Ysralow, the emperor's sickly and shunned son, wages a zealous shadow war against the enemies of the realm real and imagined, hungry for affection and prestige from Ysr. Eld Ysradrak, the eldest son and heir struggles against increasingly insurmountable odds to hold the dynastic demense of the Undrosc, the Clan Lands intact. Magni Ducis Sycircion Hydrus Sycircion was born suffering from Brachian’s Disease, that rendered his plates malformed and nearly nonexistent. His family abandoned young Sycircion to die of exposure on one of the most inhospitable planets of the cluster. Despite the odds, he survived. An information broker took Hydrus as a pet curiosity, then promoted the turian to his agent and finally made him his successor. Sycircion turned his affliction into an advantage, using the role society assigned him as a disguise. He was regarded a freak, but a clever and useful one. In time he held the ears of leadership of the Ashen Legions, legislative Radiatorial and the Praefectus himself. When Eld Ysr and his armies encroached and demanded the surrender of Arctyran, it was Hydrus that held all crucial information of the state's defenses. Hydrus chose to cripple the defensive grids and betray his home state to the invading forces. The betrayal however spared millions of lives by virtue of enabling Arkian forces to crush the Arctyran defenses swiftly, preventing a war of attrition taking place. For his service he was granted the Grand Duchy of Cyprathain, composed out of many of the remaining Arctyran worlds. Sycircion was given the favor of the King, and the prestige he had longed for. In the intervening years the young Lord has accumulated further power, his work amongst the worlds of his former home seeing old superiors and enemies flock to his banner. His patronage of transsapient movements and groups the galaxy over has granted him notability and notoriety in the lands beyond the Cascade. Many owe him their livelihoods, and are proud to call him their superior. Sycircion Hydrus lives now in his home on Exsurgos, clad in the rainment of his own augmentics and keeps quietly collecting influence as his fellow nobles busy themselves with their own stratagems. High Lady Medias Maliassa Founded upon the cavern riddled-planet Ossaloso, the asari state of Izkilnas has its roots in the waves of expatriates frequently thrown off by the Republics.The first settlers followed the trade lines, eventually staking a claim on the planet that would become their throneworld. They carved out a home amongst the vast network of tunnels, caves and the richly diverse subterranean ecosystems that riddled Ossaloso’s crust. The settler numbers were, and remain small but they are wealthy and powerful. The asari of the Arkian vassal of Izkilnas are refined, cultured and deadly. High Lady Maliassa is considered the most capable of them all. A clever politician, over the centuries she has pitted nations against one another to ensure none will threaten her station as Ysr’s principal ally and right hand. Maliassa's subjects are privileged to being part of the wealthiest nations in the realm, but they are also her tools. However a true craftswoman does not needlessly dull and blunt her instruments. Rather, Maliassa cares for and maintains them. When the time comes to use them, she applies the minimum amount of force necessary to accomplish the task. Medias Maliassa is patient and methodical, for she holds some of the realm’s greatest powers, warriors and secrets in her possession. Saint Silence Saint Silence has been called a terrorist, demagogue, imperialist, liberator, voice of the oppressed and an hero. All these names have been given to the individual (generally believed to be a human) identified by themselves, and their sizeable number of followers and sympathizers as Saint Silence. Having emerged recently, their messages decries the excesses of the nobility, the marginalization of humanity and other minor species, and the systemic concentration of power in the hands of the elite. These are frequent aired and quietly distributed in face of staunch government opposition. The lot of a “politically insignificant” race in the Terminus and Abyss is commonly an unhappy one. Many of the more firmly entrenched species and nations are indifferent or hostile to the upstarts and interlopers. Furthermore a significant minority of the inhabitants of the Abyss are batarian, occupying positions of authority and influence throughout the region which are used against the human minorities. It is widely considered that if Saint Silence and their Roarers were merely another movement railing against some institutionalized piece of racism or classism, they would receive little attention and fewer resources. The reason they have been formally declared enemies of the state are meticulously orchestrated strikes against military targets. The rebellion spans five worlds, two city sized space stations and an outright insurrection on two. Number of attacks have been on the rise recently. Population The sheer scope of Arkia encompasses a wide number of distinct populations and subsets by its very nature but the demographics of the region can generally be grouped into a rough pyramid. Krogan on top, humans on the bottom, with turians, asari, batarians, and the odd synthetic vying for power in the middle. Description Before Arkia there was Arctyran and its Ashen Legions. They dominated the cluster in a well structured, self-sustaining mechanism which could fend off aggressors. On their borders, a collection of smaller states, pirate fiefdoms, and warlordist holdings eked out an existence. These smaller states survived by virtue of their weakness, and were crushed when they looked to pose a threat. However, local leaders were challenged by ascending Clan Eld, helmed by an arrogant and ambitious new Lord, who assembled an army to take the Arctyran. Clan Eld supplemented their forces by purchased allies, such as Maliassa and her retinues of battle hardened maidens and their esoterics, and Hydrus and his key information of the Arctyran functions. The following war was brutal, but in the end Eld Ysr made Arctyran fall and broke it into a dozen shards. It was Arkia that rose from the darkness and gloom to take its place in the sun. A decade later Arkia had grown, thriving on the trade that passed through its borders and on its inborn wealth. It swelled with the influx of merchants and scholars, and citizens looking for a new life. Not even a century since its inception though, Arkia has decayed, the process hastened by the Reapers. Today defensive war is compulsory, offensive action is conducted at the discretion of the individual nobles and infighting is common. The emperor has abandoned the state to its own devices, withdrawing from public life. Notes Category:Terminus Category:Nations